


Sunshark

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin is super evil, F/M, Implied/Referenced Underage Relationship(s), Sith AU, There are also ocs, the violence isn't going to be too bad honestly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-02-28 05:42:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18750166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: While securing an asset for the Alliance, Ahsoka Tano unwittingly alters the fate of the crew of the Sunshark.





	1. Chapter 1

Eadu-Beheriz sector, Outer Rim

 

The Spire was a hard place to find. If the constant hurricane of Eadu’s atmosphere didn’t crash whatever ship came in on a landing approach then the fact that there were no obvious settlements or waystations made the prospect of landing unappealing. But for those that had the right codes, right transponders, and were a part of the same cause it held the center of everything.

So the star hopper that entered the cave wasn’t chasing some forlorn hope of safety after all.

 

\-------------

Ahsoka Tano, her nose freshly broken and set and a fat purple bruise around her yellow left eye, climbed out of her ship and looked around in the gloom. Her eyes would take a few minutes to adjust to the near total dark and the water dripping from the cracks in the cave rock were throwing crazy vibrations around for her montrals to pick up. So she plucked one of the lightsabers from her belt and ignited it, a bright crimson beam of plasma and energy lit the interior with red light.

Using it as a light source, Ahsoka found the seem in the cave wall, next to that seem was an unassuming protrusion of dark rock. She pressed on the protrusion and the rock facade slid away to reveal a biometrics scanner. It activated, taking her handprint and giving her a full body scan to asses her biometrics. She wasn’t a shapeshifter, or someone in a holofield, so the scanner blipped green and the door rolled back to reveal a bright white hallway.

The young sith went down the corridor, past grey blast doors and sensors, and stopped at a set of double doors. She was late, and as the youngest member of the Alliance’s inner council that didn’t bode well for her greeting at this particular meeting. She was riled up enough to kill after her recent disastrous assignment against her former masters’ minions so she almost invited someone casting aspersions. Getting lost in a fight would fix her mood.

The door slid back and she was met with fewer stares of annoyance than she expected.

There was Ventress, the former Nightsister looking less annoyed and more surprised to see her. Bail Organa, the king in exile from his world, and his wife Breha. Grievous, the scarred cyborg general sitting hunched in his seat coughing, and lastly there was Queen Amidala; the Empress who fought against her husband in secret. The others were nowhere to be seen.

“Ahsoka Tano, I had thought you were dead.” Ventress said wryly, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. They weren’t friends exactly, but Ventress didn’t want her killed yet so that was something.

“My apologies for being late. The mission took a turn for the worse and unfortunately the king of Toydaria is no longer in any condition to come to our aid. Skywalker’s minions caught wind of the king’s plans to aid us somehow and he sent his agents. The only bright side is that I can confirm the deaths of Masters Kreel and Dralig.” She explained quickly as she took a seat in a free chair around the table. One seat between her and her allies on each side.

Grievous let out a hacking cough before speaking. “Our other agents have been reporting similar situations. We must assume that our intelligence network has been compromised by Skywalker’s agents or worse.”

“Or worse? Speak your mind General, if there is an accusation it should be said plainly.” Queen Amidala’s dark, sharp edged outfits always gave her the appearance of brisling, so it was difficult to tell the difference between her being angry or not. Most would be intimidated but Grievous was incapable of such emotions it seemed.

“One of our allies, one of us even, has sold out our network or they have given Skywalker a shibboleth that allows him to track our plans.” Grievous said, not one to mince words.

“That is a grave accusation.” Breha noted, her vail only left her eyes visible but Ahsoka could sense the tense line of her lips as she went over the possibilities of who it could be. Ahsoka had no doubts herself about the Organas’ loyalty so she thought it impossible for them to be traitors. 

“Indeed, but who in this room would gain any advantage from aiding Skywalker? He would kill each and every one of us on site.” Bail pointed out and Ventress nodded in agreement before voicing her own opinion.

“Then it would have to be someone who is not in this room. Clovis, Vizsla, or Shaak Ti; take your pick.” She rasped, raising a finger for each name. That she viewed each of those three as weak links was no secret.

“We have no evidence of sabotage from the inside, until the time that we do, we shall treat this as Skywalker simply finding a way to anticipate our movements.” Padme growled, glaring at Ventress, the Empress had no patience for accusations and power plays in the Alliance. She dealt with enough of that while she was pretending to be the Emperor’s dutiful wife. Ahsoka, for a brief time in her life, had known that feeling.

“My lady, perhaps until we are sure of that we should adjourn this meeting. Speculation will do us no good when there are other duties to attend to, and given Tano’s failure with King Katuunko we have nothing else to discuss.” Grievous suggested, his mechanical claws clicking on the metal table.

“We could discuss alternative plans for securing more soldiers and weapons. We didn’t have an agreed upon fallback plan for Toydaria falling through and I maintain that we should consider opening relation with Geonosis. Their people and industry have suffered under Skywalker’s puppet government.” Bail suggested but Grievous shook his head and stood from his seat, his ragged cloak tight over his shoulders.

“Any fallback plan we could devise could be relayed to Skywalker. It is not worth the risk.” The cyborg pointed out. Ahsoka thought Padme was going to say something about him contradicting her view but the Empress was quiet for the moment.

“I must agree with the dear General, this meeting has served its purpose.” Ventress said getting out of her seat and slipping on the cloak she had draped over the back of it. Ahsoka was loath to follow orders that weren’t her own, all sith were, but she liked Padme enough that she looked to the Empress for confirmation that the meeting was indeed over.

“This meeting is adjourned. Bail, Breha, there is a safehouse on Onderon for both of you while we sort this matter out and my personal guards will escort you to it. As for the rest of you, stay safe and keep a low profile.” She ordered and the Organas made sure to bow before they left the room. That left Ahsoka alone with the wife of her former master and sworn enemy. Ahsoka stayed in her seat, partially because she was dead tired and partially because she knew better than to not answer to the Empress for her failure. Sith only feared two things, events outside their control and a more powerful one of their kind, the only exception to this rule was glaring at her.

“We needed the Toydarians Ahsoka.” Padme said softly, completely at odds with the ice in her glare and steel in her face.

“I am aware, but when Anakin sends his inquisitors to eliminate a threat they don’t often care about collateral damage.” She defended and the Empress steepled her hands in front of her face, closing her eyes too as she thought. It was a long moment before she spoke.

“If it was anyone else who had failed me in this matter there would be sanctions, many sanctions in fact, but since such unexpected events have taken place and you eliminated two of my husband’s more powerful attack dogs I will forgo such measures for the time being. And I am going to offer you a chance to make up for this loss.” Padme said and Ahsoka felt the weight lift from her shoulders for a moment.

“What do I need to do?” Ahsoka asked and a sly smile crept over the Empress’s face.

“Do you know who Sionver Boll is, Ahsoka?”

The name rang a bell from her time as Anakin’s pawn and concubine. “She’s a scientist, weapons research and development, she helped develop the armor modifications and standard service weapons for the clone troopers.”

“Indeed, she was promoted to special weapons development last year but after the dissident massacres on Coruscant and Naboo she has had a change of heart. She has escaped my husband’s clutches with most of her work, but she is unfortunately being hunted. Given recent events we can’t send any of our underlings to retrieve her.” Padme explained and Ahsoka nodded along as the pieces clicked into place.

“You want me to retrieve her.” Ahsoka stated, resting her chin on her fist.

“Yes, but we need both her and her work. As of our last contact she was stranded on Kafrene station, her ship’s hyperdrive casing has cracked and she has been forced to hide in with the station dregs. You will need to find her and find some way to smuggle her off station, as a precaution you will be given more than enough credits to convince a crew to smuggle you out.” Padme revealed, taking a datachip out from the folds of her dress and sliding it to Ahsoka. She grabbed the chip and nodded to the Empress.

“I will not fail you, my lady.” Ahsoka assured.

“No, you will not, because you may find that I am not so forgiving the next time.”


	2. Chapter 2

If someone had told Drake four years ago that he would be living on a ship married to his former sergeant, taking care of three teens, and that the CIB had been purged by the Sith Empire, he would’ve put them in a mental hospital. What was the old saying? Time makes fools of us all. He felt that like he felt the dull throb of the scar running from just in front of his right ear, through his right eye, and halfway across the bridge of his nose. It was the legacy of a successful assassination attempt on the Corellian governor, Arteia had a scar of her own that ran across both shoulder blades from that day. It was the reason they were where they were now, for better or for worse.

She was in the pilot seat next to him, the red twi’lek looking intensely between the scanners and the asteroids in front of them. Her blue irises as intense as ever as she searched. 

“Anything to report to the rest of the class, dear?” Drake asked. She flicked a glance in his direction before speaking.

“Not yet, the station’s transponder should be cycling through the usual frequencies right now so we’ll know where it is in -” She checked the chrono “-about five or thirty minutes. They’re pretty random with how they cycle through.”

“Right, I think Zel’s already up working on the Fastrack. Want me to wake Ila and Danny up? Give them some back breaking chores maybe?” Drake suggested jokingly as he leaned back, arms over his head and with a tired yawn.

“Nah, let’em sleep, there’s not a whole lot to do today besides refuel and resupply anyway. And no making up chores to mess with them, that’s just mean.” Arteia ordered, Drake feigned looking offended for a moment before they both started chuckling. The memory of Ila’s face when asked to pick up a bottle of blinker fluid crossing their minds.

“C’mon we gotta rib them a little bit. If we go a day without messing with these twerps they’re going to think somethings wrong and you know how I hate worrying people.” He pointed out, his wife shrugged her shoulders as she considered it.

“Maybe a little bit of ribbing.” she conceded before changing the subject. “How’s the eye feel today?”

“It hurts but there’s nothing new there, we’re still green on painkillers so it’s all good for now. I worked on the budget for this resupply and refuel is obviously going to take up a lot like normal. Water is next obviously and with Danny’s excessive heaving over the last week that’s up more than normal, we also need to get more ammo for the blasters and Ila’s cycler. And then there’s food.” Drake said, sticking up a finger for each item.

“You put ammo above food? Seriously?” Arteia gave him a confused look.

“The way I see it, we can always hunt or something for food. We can’t make new slugs or refine our own tibanna.” He explained.

“Hunting. Have you ever been hunting?” She questioned and Drake chewed on his answer for a second before replying. 

“Yeah, I used to hunt sewer rats with a modded out stun blaster as a kid. I didn’t eat the rats though but I know how to skin stuff theoretically and getting it ready shouldn’t be that hard.” He could tell by the look he was given that he’d be switching up the list here in a little bit.

The console beeped and Arteia switched her focus back to the task at hand. Coordinates flashed and were locked in, the navigation computer locked in a path based on the relative positioning and orbits of the asteroids.

“Alright, get the kids up. We got work to do.”

\---------

Danny had been getting over a nasty stomach bug, one of the many version of new spacer sickness that hit everyone who just starts out on a ship unvaccinated. All he wanted to do was sleep and while he wasn’t throwing his guts up everywhere anymore he still felt clogged up and groggy.

So when his door slide back and Drake popped his head in, Danny rolled over with a groan. Over the last year since his mother died and he’d been swept up in the smuggler gig he’d learned the ex-enforcer had a weird way of being friendly.

“Hey, nerf herder, wake up there’s crap you have to do.” He growled, knocking loudly on the metal wall.

“Death first.” Danny mumbled congestedly.

“That’s the spirit, now c’mon we got breakfast waiting. Grab your blaster too, this place is sleazy.” Drake added before taking off, leaving Danny to roll out of his bunk. His room was sparse, an old holomovie poster tacked onto one metal wall, his clothes were in the pull-out drawers under his bunk, his blaster belt had been thrown over the desk crammed in the right corner of the room a few days ago. Nestled in the leather holster was a beat up blaster pistol.

He took a shower in the refresher down the hall, pulled on an oil stained t-shirt before slipping on his old letterman jacket, blue with white lettering spelling out the last name ‘Balasy’ with a number six underneath. He was only in the academy for two years before some Sith got a hold of it and started converting it into a training center for their own personal army. His mother had made the mistake of pulling him out of it, which got her killed when the new truant officers (also read as thugs) came to ‘convince’ her to re-enroll him. It left him on the run for awhile until he got picked up by Drake and made a crew member onboard the Sunshark.

The rec room had a little kitchenette for making breakfast so he trudged his way there once he was dressed. Food was already on the table and it was the usual fried eggs and nerf bacon. Zel the bright pink zeltron, was already covered in a mix of engine grease and sweat while spooning clumps of egg into her mouth absentmindedly as she went over ship schematics. Ila was in the seat at the end of the table, one big knife set out next to her empty plate as she scraped her tomahawk’s edge across the honing flat. She was twi’lek, almost gold in color, and dressed like she was still in the desert. She forwent the head covering that most wore which let the sharp black tattoos covering her lek from the base down be all the more prominent.

They were nominally his friends. Zel prefered machines to people a lot of the time and most of her conversations with him involved her shouting at his idiocy or her laughing at his misfortune. Ila normally only talked with him when necessary even after a whole year of being shipmates. He was pretty sure their longest conversation was when she was correcting his shooting stance. The two girls’ relationship with each other was a lot more friendly since Ila didn’t talk a lot to distract Zel from her tinkering when she was in “The Zone” with her work and could actually help if need be.

Drake was focused on getting the old caff maker to start brewing again so it was Arteia who took the time out of her day to great him from where she was cleaning off the frying pans. She seemed to like him a bit more than Drake even, maybe she recognized he got the short end of the stick a lot? Or maybe the ex-CIB agent was just friendly.

“Morning kiddo, feeling better today?” She asked as she looked over him.

“I’m only kinda dying so I guess I am.” Danny mumbled before grabbing a plate and food. Ila scowled at him for invading her personal space a little bit as he went past and settled for the old recliner by the holonet station.

“Oh shut up already, if you were dying we’d be celebrating.” Zel said, not looking away from her schematics. Apparently a fever over one hundred and excessive vomiting wasn’t an excuse for being down for the count. Oh well, he went to a public academy, he could trash talk with the best of them.

“Why don’t you go back to tinkering with your junk wrench wench?” He shot back, prompting Zel to put down her schematics and fix him with a dagger-like glare. Luckily both Drake and Arteia intervened before a shouting match could be born.

“Zella, ease up on Danny, you remember having that bothan strep a few years back? So you can’t say anything. As for you Dan-o, wench is not a word we call fellow crew members, it’s rude.” Drake said, not even looking at them as he fiddled with the caff maker.

Arteia put her thoughts in next. “An excellent point, another point though is that we are a crew, a team, we can’t work together well if we’re always at each other's’ throats and I feel like this is the billionth time I’ve told you two this. Stop it, for today at the very least.” There was quite a bit of steel in her voice on the matter and Danny found himself nodding in agreement without realizing it. He wished he could compare notes with some of her old underlings to see if they did the same thing.

“Fine, but don’t act surprised if his blaster explodes or something in the near future.” Zel grumbled without a whole lot of heat left. 

There was a good ten minutes of relative silence as they finished up breakfast before Arteia de briefed them on the space station that they found themselves on. They were able to project a grainy hologram through the holonet station’s projector, it wasn’t great but it gave them a general idea of what all was where in the conglomeration. It was like someone had mashed part of a city in with a large asteroid, it was hodgepodged and gang infested but it held no formal ties to any of the Sith factions in the greater galaxy so there wasn’t a whole lot of chance of them getting blacklisted or murdered for not excepting the exorbitant prices. There was also less of a chance of them getting force choked by an angry Sith for greasing a guard or two if necessary.

“And I cannot stress this enough. Do. Not. Go. Out. Alone. It probably doesn’t need to be stated but gangs will not hesitate to pick off a lone target, especially if that target is young and female.” Drake said staring at Ila and Zel with his one good eye. The milky orb of his right eye made it hard to tell if it was looking at them too but it probably was. It wasn’t an unreasonable request, and it was something they did probably know, but Drake always reiterated stuff like that.

“The vendors we need will probably be in the main hanger but still, go armed, and do not hesitate to pull the trigger if you think you’re in danger. We can always buy more supplies, we can’t buy your lives back.” Arteia added in, that also didn’t really need to be pointed out but over the past year he’d heard different variations of that same lecture at least fifty times. Maybe it was just a cop thing to keep repeating the obvious.  
\--------

The Sunshark barely fit in the dingy hanger, the freighter’s dual cannon turrets almost scraping the rocky ceiling of Kafrene Station’s B/12 bay. There were a few other ships that looked like they were almost falling apart but other than that there were very few vehicles. There was, however, a lot of foot traffic and merchant kiosks dotting the all around.

“Okay, that’s a lot of people.” Drake noted after the left cargo ramp lowered down. The air was immediately thick with smoke and smelled like spice, tabac, and bad food. Danny let out a rattling cough next to him before spitting a wad of something nasty off onto the hanger floor. Which might have actually made it a little it cleaner.

“It’s definitely busier than last time, air quality is better though.” Arteia joked as she scanned the crowd. Drake knew what she was doing, looking for patterns and flows in the crowd. There were a couple of groups bunched up together at the edge of the swarm of sentients so that was a good sign that gangs were out and about. He would’ve joined in but he didn’t have the eye (he hated that turn of phrase) for fine detail like that anymore.

“Mostly just spacers, not a whole lot of potential for a fight. Still, I think we should keep someone on the ship for security.” Arteia said, tilting her head back towards where Danny was coughing again. Drake was under the opinion that the kid probably needed to learn to deal with inconveniences like that, but in the interests of not getting him sick again and not getting into an argument with his wife Drake stopped the boy as they started down the ramp with an arm across his chest.

“Stay here, watch the ship, and don’t do anything stupid.” He ordered.

“Dude, really?” Danny complained, although it sounded more half hearted than normal.

“Just do as I say. If you see anything suspicious call us and shoot it in no particular order. Don’t worry too much about being abducted, you’re not pretty enough.” He added, patting the kid’s shoulder before falling in beside Arteia. Ila moved up next to him, on his left, her tomahawk and knife in their sheaths at her side and her fairly high end slugthrower slung over her shoulder. Zel kept up the rear, flashing Danny a rude gesture.

“You could’ve just locked the door and set a security alert.” the teen pointed out in her thick Ryloth accent once they were in the middle of the crowd.

“Oh, well, too late now.” Drake huffed and Ila rolled her eyes.

“Why do you keep treating the kid like a baby? I’m just as old as him and you guys have me in dangerous situations all the time.” Zel put in and Drake growled at the accusation a bit. She wasn’t wrong and he didn’t like giving preferential treatment when the girls could deal with everything Arteia was trying to protect the boy from.

Arteia saved him from answering as they pushed their way through the crowd. “The kid comes from the middle class of a well off planet, you two think he’d survive the same situations you’ve been in? It’d be like throwing a tooka kit in a nexu pen. The fact he survived long enough for us to find him is pure luck.”

“Then why keep him around? He uses up resources and is dead weight. He’s no better than drunk pirate chaff in a fight either.” Ila was certainly feeling talkative today. Arteia paused to shove a very high and lost looking rodian out of the way before replying.

“Because he can learn, he has been learning, and maybe because I have a little bit of a soft spot for kids in a bad situation.” Arteia said gruffly, giving Ila and Zel a pointed look at that last part. Both of them got the message and shut up about the subject.

“Speaking of soft spots, my baby needs some better power converters and the Guncutter needs some more insulators for the cannon firing controls.” Zel said once they were in the midst of the kiosks. The Sunshark was on the bigger end when it came to light freighters so it was fully capable of supporting two starfighters. Zel’s pet project was a Z-95 Headhunter with a garish yellow and green color scheme, the Fasttrack, while the second was a heavily modified V-wing modified to sport solar panels, four light cannon, and two heavy cannon obviously called the Guncutter.

Drake let out a frustrated sigh. “Well that’s not likely. I thought you said everything was good on the fighters?”

“Technically everything is fine, but the Fasttrack’s been off by a few seconds on the startup and I’m worried that the heat from the big guns on the ‘cutter could overheat and melt the wires.” Zel explained a little sheepishly.

“What are the chances for the overheat on the cannons?” Arteia asked, rubbing her temples as she did the calculations for the hit on their budget in her head.

“Like one in a few hundred.” 

“Absolutely not.” 

“Aww, c’mon it’d be more efficient.” Zel complained.

Drake had a feeling it was going to be one of those days.

\-----------

Finding Boll wasn’t the issue, transport was. The stack of crates containing the bivall's equipment and prototypes would not fit in her disposable starhopper, so the credits the Empress had given her would have to go to paying someone to smuggle the cargo. Ahsoka had hoped to avoid that particular frustration from the outset, but there was nothing she could do. At least she could vent her bubbling anger on those who got a little too curious about what was in the crates.

Like the obviously corrupt customs official who’s fear she could feel rising as she snarled at him. Few things were worse than an angry togruta, one of those things was an angry togruta Sith. Not that the official was aware of that status, but for her undercover ops Ahsoka had a large, serrated knife that she enjoyed pressing into peoples’ necks.

“I-I’m sorry mam b-but if payment is unavailable-” The wild eyed human stopped talking as the tip of her knife found its way under his chin.

“I would think very carefully about you next choice of words.” Ahsoka growled slowly, adding just enough force so that a tiny rivlet of crimson rolled down the official’s throat.

The man gulped before checking something off on his datapad with a stylus in trembling fingers. “I-I think it wouldn’t b-be too much trouble to wave the fee on this one occasion.” he said.

“Well what d’you know, you’re not as stupid as you look. Now move out of my way, and if any security come looking for us I’ll make sure you die screaming.” She said shoving the man to the side with Boll following close behind with her hover pallet of crates. The only bay that could handle freighters on Kafrene Station was B/12, which also happened to be filled to bursting with kiosks, crowds of sentients, and ships.

“Are you sure this is wise? If any of my research-” Ahsoka cut the scientist off with a glare that could cut better than most lightsabers. The crowd was noisy, the overlap of machinery and voices meant that they had to almost shout to be heard, which wasn’t convenient for talking about what could happen if experimental equipment was lost. Or stolen in this case, which would happen if everyone in the vicinity heard that something important was in those crates.

Ahsoka grabbed the scientist by the arm and pulled her close to where she could talk more quietly.“Your property will be fine, right now we just need to find someone who would be willing to take us off station. So keep your mouth shut and follow my lead.” 

Sionver was smart enough to cooperate which gave Ahsoka the chance to look around for transport options. There were plenty of freighters but most of them looked barely space worthy and had decals that denoted their pirate status. She would be fine with gutting scum like that usually, but with cargo this sensitive she wanted to avoid a fight. She made sure Sionver stayed close as she shouldered her way through the crowd of sentients, several of which cursed or spat at her as she did so.

“Hey! Who do you think your shoving tail head!?” A particularly indignant trandoshan growled, grabbing her arm and yanking her around. So much for avoiding a fight after all.

“The person I’m going to kill if they don’t unhand me.” Ahsoka retorted as she yanked her limb away. The crowd backed off a little bit from the confrontation which left Ahsoka, Sionver and their new friend in a ring of sentients expectantly looking for a fight.

“Skug.” The burly reptile hissed. “My kind skins little togruta like you and eats them for breakfast!”

Ahsoka let her fist reply to that, jabbing the scaly scumbag in the throat hard enough for his eyes to bug out before kneeing him in between the legs and letting him drop, wheezing and rolling on the bay floor. The crowd gawked as she kneeled beside her downed opponent, bringing the edge of her knife against his throat.

“Go crawl back under whatever rock your species crawled out of, and before you even think about retaliation I want you to know something. I know every spot that I can cut away and pierce without killing you and I love an audience.” She said, slowly dragging her knife across the pebbly skin of his neck. It wasn’t a deep cut, but it would bleed for awhile.

“Now,” She said addressing Boll. “Let’s find a ship before anyone else gets handsy.”


End file.
